Hotel Darwin to become luxury hotel
The old Hotel Darwin is set to be turned into a six star luxury hotel.
The Giles government is now considering three bids to transform the site at the corner of Esplanade and Herbert Street.
One proposal is from the Coombes Property Group which does not involve any public land.
The Langbridge Group, owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng which has a 99 year lease of Darwin port that takes in the cruise ship facility at Fort Hill Wharf opposite the Waterfront site, is another bidder.
And then there is a bid from the Paspaley Property Group at Cullen Bay.
Both of these last two bids have proposals taking in public land.
The Langbridge Waterfront proposal has been attacked by the Territory Opposition and the Darwin Film Society.
They are concerned about plans to absorb part of Jervois Park into the project.
Deckchair Cinema general manager Alice Body said the plans showed the hotel would be located just 100 metres from the outdoor cinema.
“While we appreciate the Jervois Park hotel developer efforts to hear out the DFS’s concerns and give us a clear idea of the final proposal using the model, we remain concerned about the proximity of the proposed development to Deckchair Cinema,” Ms Body told the NT News.
Deputy Chief Minister Peter Styles said the government was committed to the Deckchair Cinema and stressed that no-one wants a hotel within 75 metres of the Deckchair Cinema.
Chief Minister Adam Giles says there is a “growing demand” for six-star accommodation in Darwin with a growing number of corporate travellers chasing “business investment opportunities.”
“We are chasing low-volume, high-yield travellers rather than high-volume, low-yield travellers,” Mr Giles told reporters. “The level of investment could be greater than $100 million depending upon the location, nature and scale of the development.”
by Leon Gettler, July 20th 2016
